BlackBerry working on smartphone with slide-out keyboard

BlackBerry is working on a phone that could offer the best of both worlds – a large touchscreen display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

The Canadian smartphone maker will launch its intriguing BlackBerry Passport handset before the end of September, but it could have something even more unusual up its sleeve.

BerryReview has spotted a patent application from the company formerly known as RIM. It shows a large touchscreen smartphone handset with a three-row QWERTY keyboard at the bottom.

There appears to be a unique pivoting cover that can partially hide this keyboard when not in use, leaving just the top row of buttons.

Aside from this contraption, the report claims that the new hybrid BlackBerry will feature a huge iPhone 6 Plus-bothering 5.5-inch display. It could launch in the second quarter of 2015.

Before then there’s the Passport handset, as mentioned above, which will offer a 4.5-inch 1440 x 1440 display in an unusual square form factor – as well as some high-end internal components.

BlackBerry is also expected to release a new collaboration with Porsche, code-named Khan. We should also see the so-called BlackBerry Classic, which will see the manufacturer keeping its sizeable minority of die-hard QWERTY-fans happy.

In recent months, BlackBerry has been shown to have slipped behind Windows Phone in terms of UK users, making it the fourth biggest smartphone platform in the country.

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